‘Scared’ Lions played with ‘fear’ in 2-1 loss at Wigan Athletic

Millwall manager Gary Rowett felt his side played as if they were “scared” of losing their Championship play-off place in today’s 2-1 reverse at Wigan Athletic.

The Lions are hanging on to a top six spot despite their flagging form.

But either eighth-placed West Brom or their opponents Sunderland will move above them with a win in tomorrow’s match. And so will Blackburn if they win the late kick-off this evening.

The Baggies have two games in hand and can move above them if they win tomorrow’s game against Sunderland.

Rowett told Millwall TV: “I just said to the players in there (the dressing room) that we played not like we were desperate to win the game to get in the top six – we played like we were scared of dropping out of the top six. There’s a big difference.

“You need your big players to step up in games like this.

“The team has been outstanding all season. The team has worked incredibly hard all season. We’ve given some really good performances all season but recently we haven’t got the results we wanted.

“Performances have been quite good – but today’s performance was poor. We didn’t show up. We kept turning the ball over all the time. We showed a real lack of bravery a lot of the time. I won’t question the players’ character at all but you’ve got to step up in moments like this.

“The reality is we have not turned up today and performed. I feel sorry for our fans, because they turned up in good voice. I feel sorry for all the players because they have worked so hard. But if you play with fear you are not going to put big performances in. From the first minute we didn’t do it.”